Log Book: Philippines

Once you start to dive and talk to other divers, your hit list for dream dive destinations gets longer and longer. The Philippines has always been up there for me, and when my sister said she was interested in going we put a trip together!

Macro diving (looking for little things) is something both my sister and I love, and the diving in Anilao (Batangas) did not disappoint. We were staying and diving with Crystal Blue who have lovely rooms staggered up the hill from the ocean. Even minutes from the resort we would happen upon dive sites covered in nudibranch of all types, frog fish, pygmy seahorses, and enjoy the incredible coral cover. An hour was easily spent with our nose to the ground trying to find the smallest and most beautiful creature to show each other!

A frog fish with his lure out to attract prey.

A beautiful nudibranch

An anthia scoots past this coral-covered wreck

A beautiful nudibranch balances precariously

A yellow pygmy seahorse (swipe for scale)

A yellow pygmy seahorse (my sister’s finger for scale)

My sister Lisa explores a wreck in Anilao

A healthy reef, with thick coral cover

A vibrant emperor shrimp

Another beautiful nudibranch

The view from Crystal Blue

From Anilao we took a transition liveaboard trip across to Puerto Princesa, in Palawan. It was early in the season so not all of Tubbataha was open due to high winds and surf, but what we experienced was brilliant! The M/Y Resolute is an old Russian spy ship converted into a hardy but comfortable liveaboard. Recently under new management (with renovation in the rooms and communal spaces) this boat only takes 16 divers which meant we weren’t too crowded on the dives, split into two groups of 8 divers.

The national park – split across two atolls (islands) – was vast, with the biggest fan corals and barrel sponges I’ve ever seen! Sharks were present on almost every dive, and we were blessed with sightings of whalesharks, hammerhead and even a flyby from a chunky tiger shark. We didn’t catch much current (which often means for more action) but still managed to see heaps of trevally, barracuda as well as black and white tips (even juveniles!).

A white tip reef shark glides past us

This juvenile whaleshark joined us for 2 dives in Tubbataha.

Remember “Finding Nemo”? Clown fish eggs paid under the skirt of the anemone.

A frog fish about 1cm in length hides from my camera after I freed him from a plastic bag.

Life is better down where it’s wetter!

A pair of butterfly fish

A large hawksbill turtle enjoying a munch

My dive buddy for this trip,

Tubbataha is known for big things but diving with my sister you can’t help but look for and notice small things! She managed to spot a crab looking after it’s eggs hidden in a coral, clown fish eggs laid nearly underneath the skirt of its anemone, and I spotted a tiny frogfish that was hitching a ride on a plastic bag (the only piece of trash we saw at sea).

A crab hiding with its’ eggs (yellow)

A tiny frogfish (I think!)

There is so much more of the Philippines to explore and I’m looking forward to when I can get out there next to look for thresher sharks!